Somewhere around the same time of the year in 2008, a couple of firsts happened in the world of sport. The Indian batting order badly collapsed in its first encounter with mysteryman Ajantha Mendis while Rafael Nadal showed how you don’t need to be God to beat the God to clinch his first Wimbledon. Travelling in Sampoorna Kranti Express from Patna to New Delhi, I missed them both. A couple of days later, on 9th July 2008, I along with 18 “budding (or rather budded)” engineers started my professional career in a two wheeler manufacturing company.
As I write this, there are 13 of us still left in the company, and while this was not something totally anticipated by many back in college, I have indeed managed to be a part of a professional organization for two full years, (even the “professional organization” has managed surviving in my company).
Here are a few excerpts from the first two years of my work life:
1. As per plans, I should have been unemployed by now, reading management at perhaps an IIM. Reading I still am, but the books are not management, they are my 'paths' to management.
2. GETs (Graduate Engineering Trainee) are a royal lot. You can get away with the worst of offences with a simple line- "I am a GET."
3. A fresh engineer (never mind the college) wouldn’t know half as much as a simple bike mechanic.
4. At times I wonder why a worker is paid lesser than me. And then I am told it's my engineering degree. But isn't it that I am just fortunate that my parents could sponsor my education in an engineering college, and the other chap's parents could not, I wonder.
5. At times I even wonder if being educated is a boon or a bane. The labourers at my workplace threaten to stop work in the event of finding conditions not conducive to their requirements. We come across similar situations on numerous occasions, but since we are "educated", we continue to 'manage' ourselves to adjust and work according to demanding circumstances. The rewards.... keep wondering.....
6. In an automobile company, there are many things to life beyond a four-stroke engine. Those things are Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint, and there is not much to life beyond these.
7. To excel at work, you need to excel at Excel first. There are times when you feel Bill Gates is the biggest villian of all times.
8. All you guys out there reading Overdrive and dreaming about automobile engineering, loving automobiles and slogging in an automobile factory are two different things.
9. Some habits remain intact throughout your life. In spite of waking up at 0630 hours everyday for the last two years, I am still not comfortable doing the same, or rather I am just not programmed to get up early in the morning.
10. Never approach a Japanese without data back up.
11. There's a very important two-second unspoken rule at work. When confronted with a problem, you need to come up with a reason within two seconds stating why the problem is not your problem. Fail to do so, and you're dead meat.
12. It's my fucking body and I am not paid for the stupid 5 min morning drill. I JUST DON'T WANNA DO IT.
13. I hate the fact that hungry or not hungry, I am forced to have lunch at the 1235 bell.
14. And finally, no company is bad company (pun intended). It's just that the company is not made for you, or vice-versa.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Raavan-neeti
Old stuff since I started writing this last month, but dint manage finishing it...
A couple of months back I was finding it difficult to decide which movie I was more excited about, Bihari Babu's Rajneeti or Anna's Raavan. I eventually realized it was the madness and eccentricity of Beera Munda, which was getting the better of Prakash Jha's political ploy. Mind you, all these anticipations were before I had watched either of the movies.
4th June, I caught the first day last show of Rajneeti and trust me, I was indeed overwhelmed. That very day I wanted to blog down the movie, but I decided to wait for Raavan before jotting my views down. 18th June, I once again caught the first day last show of Raavan, but before we talk about the Mani Ratnam flick, let's get back to Rajneeti.
Rajneeti was surely a masterpiece. Yes, all the talk about it being a mix of Mahabharata and The Godfather, arguably the best literary works ever produced. But then, it indeed takes skill to weave a common plot out of two such collosal pieces. There is a very thin line between inspiration and imitation, and Prakash Jha made sure that his foot was well inside the line while making Rajneeti. For a person well versed with Mahabharata and The Godfather, the movie was definitely a treat to watch. The subtle references to them both were brilliant indeed. My favourite being the scene where Bajpai offers party membership to Devgan, depicting a Duryodhana and Karna. Probably Ajay Devgan could have got some more footage, with Karna being THE most powerful character of Mahabharata. Manoj Bajpai was terrific, his speech in the 2nd half being literally mindblowing. The movie could have been better probably with the "jyeshta putra" scene being done away with. And personally, I would have loved to see Ajay Devgan's father kill Ranbir Kapoor in the end. But overall, a must watch, the movie being so gripping that you actually do not wish to watch Katrina, her sequences surely interrupting the flow of the movie.
And now Raavan. I am a pretty big Mani Ratnam fan, Nayakan, Roja, Bombay, Guru, I have loved them all. Add to it, Raavan's promos were indeed mind boggling. There was a certain air of madness which I felt in the trailers. Plus AR's music, Behene De and Beera. V. Manikandan and Santosh Sivan are the best cinematographers we have, and Raavan had them both. OOOOOOOOOOOOOH...I had every reason to be excited about Raavan. But the movie....what SHIT direction man. Was it actually Mani Ratnam ?? The first half seemed to be NGC/Discovery, with nothing but the beautiful forests to look at. The kidnapping of Aishwarya, supposedly the turning point of the story, happens in the first scene, without any proper build up. And the sequencing of the songs, Beera could have been so beautifully used, and Behene De... Aishwarya attempts suicide and Abhishek has Behene De playing inside his head. And what exactly was Beera Munda supposed to be, evil or eccentric ?? Yes, he could have been both, if acted and directed well, but he ended up being neither, rather just a complete disaster (does that rhyme ??). This I think was more Mani's fault rather than Abhishek's. But for me, the parts that stood out in being disastrous were the scenes were Abhishek expresses his love for Aish. What fucked up dialogues... Abhishek trying to produce a scary voice and saying, "agar dev se pehle mai tumhe mila hota to......". Reminded me of Ramu's Road, where Bajpai says that to Antara Mali,...hahahahahaha. And how does Aish manages to return and find the deadly Beera Munda's hideout towards the end, when the whole police force failed to do so. Beats me. I was so bloody disappointed with Raavan that I have even stopped listening to its music. I can actually go on and on criticizing this flick, but I would rather stop and pray that this is not the death of yet another director in Indian Cinema.
A couple of months back I was finding it difficult to decide which movie I was more excited about, Bihari Babu's Rajneeti or Anna's Raavan. I eventually realized it was the madness and eccentricity of Beera Munda, which was getting the better of Prakash Jha's political ploy. Mind you, all these anticipations were before I had watched either of the movies.
4th June, I caught the first day last show of Rajneeti and trust me, I was indeed overwhelmed. That very day I wanted to blog down the movie, but I decided to wait for Raavan before jotting my views down. 18th June, I once again caught the first day last show of Raavan, but before we talk about the Mani Ratnam flick, let's get back to Rajneeti.
Rajneeti was surely a masterpiece. Yes, all the talk about it being a mix of Mahabharata and The Godfather, arguably the best literary works ever produced. But then, it indeed takes skill to weave a common plot out of two such collosal pieces. There is a very thin line between inspiration and imitation, and Prakash Jha made sure that his foot was well inside the line while making Rajneeti. For a person well versed with Mahabharata and The Godfather, the movie was definitely a treat to watch. The subtle references to them both were brilliant indeed. My favourite being the scene where Bajpai offers party membership to Devgan, depicting a Duryodhana and Karna. Probably Ajay Devgan could have got some more footage, with Karna being THE most powerful character of Mahabharata. Manoj Bajpai was terrific, his speech in the 2nd half being literally mindblowing. The movie could have been better probably with the "jyeshta putra" scene being done away with. And personally, I would have loved to see Ajay Devgan's father kill Ranbir Kapoor in the end. But overall, a must watch, the movie being so gripping that you actually do not wish to watch Katrina, her sequences surely interrupting the flow of the movie.
And now Raavan. I am a pretty big Mani Ratnam fan, Nayakan, Roja, Bombay, Guru, I have loved them all. Add to it, Raavan's promos were indeed mind boggling. There was a certain air of madness which I felt in the trailers. Plus AR's music, Behene De and Beera. V. Manikandan and Santosh Sivan are the best cinematographers we have, and Raavan had them both. OOOOOOOOOOOOOH...I had every reason to be excited about Raavan. But the movie....what SHIT direction man. Was it actually Mani Ratnam ?? The first half seemed to be NGC/Discovery, with nothing but the beautiful forests to look at. The kidnapping of Aishwarya, supposedly the turning point of the story, happens in the first scene, without any proper build up. And the sequencing of the songs, Beera could have been so beautifully used, and Behene De... Aishwarya attempts suicide and Abhishek has Behene De playing inside his head. And what exactly was Beera Munda supposed to be, evil or eccentric ?? Yes, he could have been both, if acted and directed well, but he ended up being neither, rather just a complete disaster (does that rhyme ??). This I think was more Mani's fault rather than Abhishek's. But for me, the parts that stood out in being disastrous were the scenes were Abhishek expresses his love for Aish. What fucked up dialogues... Abhishek trying to produce a scary voice and saying, "agar dev se pehle mai tumhe mila hota to......". Reminded me of Ramu's Road, where Bajpai says that to Antara Mali,...hahahahahaha. And how does Aish manages to return and find the deadly Beera Munda's hideout towards the end, when the whole police force failed to do so. Beats me. I was so bloody disappointed with Raavan that I have even stopped listening to its music. I can actually go on and on criticizing this flick, but I would rather stop and pray that this is not the death of yet another director in Indian Cinema.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Romance of the 90s
There were two butterflies which effected me into writing this piece. One was the highly forwarded mail titled "You know you grew up in the 90s when...",which I read for the umpteenth time yesterday; and the second was India's unceremonious exit from the T20 world cup.
The mail first. Amazing piece of work, certainly relives the 90s decade. Absolutely love the part on GI Joes and Hot Wheels. A couple of points which could have been included:
1. You would have probably accompanied Vinod Kambli in shedding a tear or two following India's tragic loss to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in the 1996 World Cup.
2. Your parents would not have minded you watching two programmes on DD1: Surabhi and Turning Point.
The 90s decade had an inherent romantic aroma attached to it. Starting with Indian Cinema, this was the decade which saw directors like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar come up with their romantic blockbusters. The Khan legends of today established themselves in Indian Cinema by virtue of romantic classics (read MPK, QSQT, DDLJ) churned in the beginning of the decade or even earlier.
I find it difficult here not to draw an analogy between Indian Cinema and Indian Sport. While the romantic flicks continued to warm and break Indian hearts, the sportspersons weren't left behind. The year 1996 saw the start of India's arguably best batting line up ever, with the advent of Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Sachin Tendulkar was already more than 6 years into international cricket by then. Very soon India UNarguably had its best ever opening pair in ODIs and its best ever no. 3 test batsman. Probably this was the period when the Indian's love for cricket had reached its zenith. The greatest ever Indian cricketing moment had probably happened over a decade back and it still remains to be repeated. But even then, with the advent of the idiot box in almost every household, the connection with cricket reached heights unseen before.
Honestly, we never were strong contenders to win the 1996 cricket world cup. Still, Sachin thought differently and so did Anil Kumble. Aided by contributions hither and thither, we made it to the quarters and played perhaps the most memorable Indian cricket match of the decade. As Venky Prasad rattled Aamir Sohail's stumps and showed him the way to pavilion, the Indian fan got the moment which he would cherish all his life. We made sure Javed Miandad did not get the farewell he wanted, and felt that the Chetan Sharma ghost had been buried... if only to an extent. We rose to battle against the flamboyant Lankans in the semis, but fell with the fall of the Master. Kambli would have known that he was not the only one with wet eyes then.
That was the period when we lost more than we won, but the sting of the loss was much more than what it is today. Indian Cricket today has fans, back then it had fanatics. It was not just about the performances, it was about the style as well.
I remember a 1998 Outlook issue after the famous Sachin-Warnie battles got over. It had Ganguly, Dravid and Sachin on the cover titled as "The Creator, The Preserver and The Destroyer". Rarely have I read better articles on cricket. Here's the link: http://www.outlookindia.com/content.aspx?issue=129
A few famous remarks:
Rahul Dravid: "On the off side, there's first God and then there's Sourav Ganguly."
Dennis Lillee: "If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."
Peter Roebuck: "The Indians regard Dravid as their own Steve Waugh, a fighter, resourceful and effective, who looks like one of those stern and reclusive monks, to be found in mountain retreats, whose wicket must be prised." Today, there might be some regarding Steve Waugh as Australia's own Dravid !!!
Same goes about the Indian bowling attack. After Kapil Dev, there hasn't been a fast bowler who bowled his heart out better than Javagal Srinath. Again, probably Zaheer Khan might end up with better records, but the Indian fan might never pray for him the way he prayed for Srinath. Similarly, Harbhajan Singh might never draw the respect which Anil Kumble commanded. Kumble had the unenviable task of being the first Indian frontline spinner after the famous quartet retired. Still, he ended up scoring a "10-on-10" in that.
Indian Hockey will never see the days of Major Dhyan Chand again. But if, there was one sportsperson in India who could draw parallels with Sachin Tendulkar in the 90s, it was Dhanraj Pillai. The man at 35 could still outdribble 20 year olds. We remember Kambli cry at Eden but few remember Pillai cry at the goalpost in 2000, after failing to qualify for the Sydney Olympics semis. It was the era of Dhanraj Pillai, Pargat Singh, the Varkeys and the Tirkeys which last managed to hold the attention of the Indian fan by springing up notable performances here and there.
And then there were the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. A certain Leander Paes (an unknown Indian with an 'un-Indian' name) lost to a certain Andre Agassi in the semi finals and a billion hearts broke. Pretty soon, he beat Fernando Meligeni (God knows who) and won the Olympic Bronze. Suddenly, Leander Paes was India's newest sporting sensation. Everyone even with a badminton racquet wanted to be a Leander Paes. This was the 1990's Indian's first tryst with tennis, which continued to grow with Paes and Bhupathi and then with Sania. The hopes now rest on the big Somdev Burman.
The Indian Cricket Team today is undoubtedly a more charged up lot. The don't look good when they play, but probably there ugliness is much more effective. The heroes back then din't win as many as the boys of today, but they surely paved the platforms for today's victories. Today we win more than we lose, but the firecrackers are lesser. We are still looking for names which can match up to the heroes of the 1990s. There is still a battle to be seen which can match up to the classic Sachin vs Warnie duel. The India-Pakistan rivalry has never been the same again.
Probably the time has come that the Indian fan wishes to move onto a different sport. There were cheers around when Narain Karthikeyan drove into Jordan and there are many wishing bigger for Karun Chandhok. Indian Hockey is all but over. Any attempt at its revival turns out to be a bigger letdown than the previous one. I hear someone shout EPL, but the common Indian would feel the connection only when India plays the FIFA World Cup.
We hope, for Indian sport's sake, that there are more like the Shooter, the Boxers and the Wrestler. We hope, that there will be a day when Somdev Burman beats Federer on grass and maybe even Nadal on clay. We hope, that the IHF wakes up and we see madness similar to Dhanraj Pillai's sprint on the hockey turf. We hope, that there will be a day when the Indian football fan will have his own country to cheer for, at the FIFA World Cup. And last but not the least, we hope for the singlemost biggest unifying factor in this nation- Cricket, that it leaves the controversies currently haunting it behind and the Indian fan gets to relive his romance with the game.... again...!!!
The mail first. Amazing piece of work, certainly relives the 90s decade. Absolutely love the part on GI Joes and Hot Wheels. A couple of points which could have been included:
1. You would have probably accompanied Vinod Kambli in shedding a tear or two following India's tragic loss to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in the 1996 World Cup.
2. Your parents would not have minded you watching two programmes on DD1: Surabhi and Turning Point.
The 90s decade had an inherent romantic aroma attached to it. Starting with Indian Cinema, this was the decade which saw directors like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar come up with their romantic blockbusters. The Khan legends of today established themselves in Indian Cinema by virtue of romantic classics (read MPK, QSQT, DDLJ) churned in the beginning of the decade or even earlier.
I find it difficult here not to draw an analogy between Indian Cinema and Indian Sport. While the romantic flicks continued to warm and break Indian hearts, the sportspersons weren't left behind. The year 1996 saw the start of India's arguably best batting line up ever, with the advent of Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Sachin Tendulkar was already more than 6 years into international cricket by then. Very soon India UNarguably had its best ever opening pair in ODIs and its best ever no. 3 test batsman. Probably this was the period when the Indian's love for cricket had reached its zenith. The greatest ever Indian cricketing moment had probably happened over a decade back and it still remains to be repeated. But even then, with the advent of the idiot box in almost every household, the connection with cricket reached heights unseen before.
Honestly, we never were strong contenders to win the 1996 cricket world cup. Still, Sachin thought differently and so did Anil Kumble. Aided by contributions hither and thither, we made it to the quarters and played perhaps the most memorable Indian cricket match of the decade. As Venky Prasad rattled Aamir Sohail's stumps and showed him the way to pavilion, the Indian fan got the moment which he would cherish all his life. We made sure Javed Miandad did not get the farewell he wanted, and felt that the Chetan Sharma ghost had been buried... if only to an extent. We rose to battle against the flamboyant Lankans in the semis, but fell with the fall of the Master. Kambli would have known that he was not the only one with wet eyes then.
That was the period when we lost more than we won, but the sting of the loss was much more than what it is today. Indian Cricket today has fans, back then it had fanatics. It was not just about the performances, it was about the style as well.
I remember a 1998 Outlook issue after the famous Sachin-Warnie battles got over. It had Ganguly, Dravid and Sachin on the cover titled as "The Creator, The Preserver and The Destroyer". Rarely have I read better articles on cricket. Here's the link: http://www.outlookindia.com/content.aspx?issue=129
Rahul Dravid: "On the off side, there's first God and then there's Sourav Ganguly."
Dennis Lillee: "If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."
Peter Roebuck: "The Indians regard Dravid as their own Steve Waugh, a fighter, resourceful and effective, who looks like one of those stern and reclusive monks, to be found in mountain retreats, whose wicket must be prised." Today, there might be some regarding Steve Waugh as Australia's own Dravid !!!
Same goes about the Indian bowling attack. After Kapil Dev, there hasn't been a fast bowler who bowled his heart out better than Javagal Srinath. Again, probably Zaheer Khan might end up with better records, but the Indian fan might never pray for him the way he prayed for Srinath. Similarly, Harbhajan Singh might never draw the respect which Anil Kumble commanded. Kumble had the unenviable task of being the first Indian frontline spinner after the famous quartet retired. Still, he ended up scoring a "10-on-10" in that.
Indian Hockey will never see the days of Major Dhyan Chand again. But if, there was one sportsperson in India who could draw parallels with Sachin Tendulkar in the 90s, it was Dhanraj Pillai. The man at 35 could still outdribble 20 year olds. We remember Kambli cry at Eden but few remember Pillai cry at the goalpost in 2000, after failing to qualify for the Sydney Olympics semis. It was the era of Dhanraj Pillai, Pargat Singh, the Varkeys and the Tirkeys which last managed to hold the attention of the Indian fan by springing up notable performances here and there.
And then there were the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. A certain Leander Paes (an unknown Indian with an 'un-Indian' name) lost to a certain Andre Agassi in the semi finals and a billion hearts broke. Pretty soon, he beat Fernando Meligeni (God knows who) and won the Olympic Bronze. Suddenly, Leander Paes was India's newest sporting sensation. Everyone even with a badminton racquet wanted to be a Leander Paes. This was the 1990's Indian's first tryst with tennis, which continued to grow with Paes and Bhupathi and then with Sania. The hopes now rest on the big Somdev Burman.
The Indian Cricket Team today is undoubtedly a more charged up lot. The don't look good when they play, but probably there ugliness is much more effective. The heroes back then din't win as many as the boys of today, but they surely paved the platforms for today's victories. Today we win more than we lose, but the firecrackers are lesser. We are still looking for names which can match up to the heroes of the 1990s. There is still a battle to be seen which can match up to the classic Sachin vs Warnie duel. The India-Pakistan rivalry has never been the same again.
Probably the time has come that the Indian fan wishes to move onto a different sport. There were cheers around when Narain Karthikeyan drove into Jordan and there are many wishing bigger for Karun Chandhok. Indian Hockey is all but over. Any attempt at its revival turns out to be a bigger letdown than the previous one. I hear someone shout EPL, but the common Indian would feel the connection only when India plays the FIFA World Cup.
We hope, for Indian sport's sake, that there are more like the Shooter, the Boxers and the Wrestler. We hope, that there will be a day when Somdev Burman beats Federer on grass and maybe even Nadal on clay. We hope, that the IHF wakes up and we see madness similar to Dhanraj Pillai's sprint on the hockey turf. We hope, that there will be a day when the Indian football fan will have his own country to cheer for, at the FIFA World Cup. And last but not the least, we hope for the singlemost biggest unifying factor in this nation- Cricket, that it leaves the controversies currently haunting it behind and the Indian fan gets to relive his romance with the game.... again...!!!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
God Tweets
When I saw an e-mail titled "Do you follow God ?" from Baldy on my corporate mohhalla mailbox, I imagined no more to it than a mere typical forward. I didn't bother reading it then, and only when I saw the string of quick replies to it from my fellow corporate mohhallites, I decided to open the mail. It was a very short, crisp mail from an apparently highly excited Baldz who was announcing on Corporate Mohhalla the entry of Sachin Tendulkar on Twitter.
It was big for me, and perhaps millions more, and it was definitely big for the Indian media as well. NDTV, Times of India, Yahoo and many more chose to broadcast it as a "flash news". This is the very reason why Twitter has been getting so famous.
Despite there being numerous social networking sites around before Twitter, none of them had managed to capture the attention of celebrities yet. Twitter did just that, probably because celebs need not go about 'accepting requests' from their countless fans. Simple site without many hassles. But Twitter probably got its biggest 'boom' till date in India on 05 May'10, something which even the Twitter bosses back in US would have realized.
A few musings:
1. It has almost been 96 hours since Sachin joined Twitter, and sachin_rt has 2,49,505...no... 2,49, 508...gosh...2,49,521.. forget it... almost 2.5 lakh followers.
2. The rate at which Sachin's followers increase might be the only thing which matches his rate of scoring centuries.
3. Shah Rukh Khan apparently is the Indian with maximum 'twitollowers' (yes, I coined the term). Knowing Sachin's penchant for breaking and making records, SRK's might soon bite the dust.
4. Ashton Kutcher's is apparently the most followed profile worldwide, with 48L + followers (dunno why). God might find tough breaking this, considering the limited popularity of cricket globally.
5. The A.R Rahman community on orkut beats the SRT community by over a lakh
(big surprise !!!).
6. Atul Kasbekar is a childhood friend so understood, but how come Zaheer Khan and Narain Karthikeyan. Not the first ones I would have expected you to follow.
7. People I expect you to be following pretty soon: Harsha Bhogle, SRK, Shane Warne, MSD. Something tells me that Saurav Ganguly would take some time making to the list.
8. Please don't entertain Vidhu Vinod Chopra much. He might end up using your Ferrari for his movie and not offering you credit for it. Chetan Bhagat might offer you some advice here... (Hehehehe !!!)
9. There is a profile in the name of sachin__rt (note the extra _) and has almost 3700 mistaken followers. This chap seems to be a big SRK fan, looking at his tweets directed at him.
10. There have been numerous tweets celebrating God's arrival on Twitter. But this was probably the best of the lot: "Government of India decides to conduct a Census, requests Sachin to join Twitter to make the process easier and faster."
11. Absolutely love the way you have started replying to your fans. Speaks a lot, please choose to send me a reply some day.
It was big for me, and perhaps millions more, and it was definitely big for the Indian media as well. NDTV, Times of India, Yahoo and many more chose to broadcast it as a "flash news". This is the very reason why Twitter has been getting so famous.
Despite there being numerous social networking sites around before Twitter, none of them had managed to capture the attention of celebrities yet. Twitter did just that, probably because celebs need not go about 'accepting requests' from their countless fans. Simple site without many hassles. But Twitter probably got its biggest 'boom' till date in India on 05 May'10, something which even the Twitter bosses back in US would have realized.
A few musings:
1. It has almost been 96 hours since Sachin joined Twitter, and sachin_rt has 2,49,505...no... 2,49, 508...gosh...2,49,521.. forget it... almost 2.5 lakh followers.
2. The rate at which Sachin's followers increase might be the only thing which matches his rate of scoring centuries.
3. Shah Rukh Khan apparently is the Indian with maximum 'twitollowers' (yes, I coined the term). Knowing Sachin's penchant for breaking and making records, SRK's might soon bite the dust.
4. Ashton Kutcher's is apparently the most followed profile worldwide, with 48L + followers (dunno why). God might find tough breaking this, considering the limited popularity of cricket globally.
5. The A.R Rahman community on orkut beats the SRT community by over a lakh
(big surprise !!!).
6. Atul Kasbekar is a childhood friend so understood, but how come Zaheer Khan and Narain Karthikeyan. Not the first ones I would have expected you to follow.
7. People I expect you to be following pretty soon: Harsha Bhogle, SRK, Shane Warne, MSD. Something tells me that Saurav Ganguly would take some time making to the list.
8. Please don't entertain Vidhu Vinod Chopra much. He might end up using your Ferrari for his movie and not offering you credit for it. Chetan Bhagat might offer you some advice here... (Hehehehe !!!)
9. There is a profile in the name of sachin__rt (note the extra _) and has almost 3700 mistaken followers. This chap seems to be a big SRK fan, looking at his tweets directed at him.
10. There have been numerous tweets celebrating God's arrival on Twitter. But this was probably the best of the lot: "Government of India decides to conduct a Census, requests Sachin to join Twitter to make the process easier and faster."
11. Absolutely love the way you have started replying to your fans. Speaks a lot, please choose to send me a reply some day.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The GDPI Returns
This is how the interview went:
The interviewers were the same two who sat through our GD. One, a 30-something man (hereby referred to as Man) and the other a 30-something lady (any guesses what she would be referred to as...??? yes...WOMAN !!!) looking highly irritated and bored.
Here's how the whole thing went:
Man: Please have a seat... you are...Ritvik Shekhar..right ??
Me: Yes sir, Ritvik Shekhar (silently- with a V)
Man: So you have been (reading from my profile sheet) working in Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd.
Me: Yes Sir, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India.
Woman: So Ritvik where is your company located ??
Me: Manesar Mam, it's located in Manesar.
Man: So you have worked in 2 companies, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd.
Me (the bewildered) : No Sir, only one company, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd... HMSI.
Man (the even more bewildered): Doesn't this mean two companies: Honda Motorcycle being one, and Scooter India Ltd being the other.
Me: Bhak sala (silently), No sir, this is only one company, HMSI.
Man and Woman (simultaneously): Ohhh.. Ok Ok.. This is only one Honda ???
Me (the gyaani): Yes, we are the only 100 % owned subsidiary of Honda Motors Japan in India.
Man: Isn't there a company called Scooters India Ltd. as well ?
Me (on guard) (SILENTLY): hai to...lekin kaha suna hai ??????????
Me (the quizzer) (ALOUD): Yes sir, the one which used to make Lambrettas.
Man (happily): Yes yes the same one.
Man (starting his run up): Ok tell me Ritvik.... You are working in a top core company making good use of your engineering degree and earning good money, why is it that you want to do an MBA ??
Me (SILENTLY): mere liye to short ball hi problem hai.. isne to opening over mein hi bouncer daal diya !!!
Me (ALOUD): Sir, right from the beginning I have had an interest in organizing events and.....
Woman (bearing a highly dirty expression on otherwise a nice face): Even I like organizing parties at home, does it mean that I should go for an MBA.
Me (SILENTLY): You must be an MBA. why the hell would MDI make you a prof otherwise ??
Me (ALOUD): No no Mam, not just that... I have actively organized fests and events at college level and have really enjoyed doing the same....
Man (interrupting): But don't you think your Mechanical Enginnering degree would be getting wasted if you go for an MBA. Just imagine that you would be selling waterbottles after becoming an mba, what use would our engineering degree come to then ??
Me (the fool): I agree sir that maybe I would not be using my engineering knowledge the way I am using it now, but then there is a lot more to engineering than just the technical knowledge.
(aaaaah... the mistake had been made)
Man and Woman (simultaneously and wickedly): Ok Ritvik, tell us what "more" is there to engineering than just the tehnical knowledge ??
Me (the bigger fool): Well you get to live with different people in a hostel.......
Woman: Come on, family ke saath bhi to live hi kar rahe the na itne saal se.
Me (gulping): Yes but here I got to live with people from different backgrounds.
Man: That can happen in a BA college as well.
Me: Yes sir, definitely, rightly said, it can happen in a BA college as well !!!
Woman (giving an even dirtier look): TIME se coaching li hai kya ??
Me (SILENTLY): gaya beta, boriya bistar baandh lo.
Me (LOUDLY & CONFIDENTLY): No Mam, I did not go for a coaching. My work hours did not permit me.
(I seriously sound more confident when I lie.)
Woman (sounding convinced): Oh ok ok... normally saare log TIME se coaching le ke aate hai aur aise hi answers dete hai.
Me: (formal) hahahaha.
Man: Ok Ritvik but I still have not understood why you want to do an mba ??
Me (SILENTLY): teri samajh mein nahi aaya to kya meri galti hai ???
Me (ALOUD): Sir of late I have felt that my learning curve has slightly tapered. The work I do is highly constrained and this way I would be limiting my career options completely. By doing an mba I hope to expand my horizons further, I have seen engineers do an mba and jump into completely different fields...... (was about to mention Menongitis)
Man: But won't the engineering knowledge be going down the drain completely ??
That was when an angel in the form of an officeboy entered the room carrying a tray having 3 glasses of juice.
Man: Ritvik, please have some juice.
Me: No Sir, I have a cold (jhooth).
Man further started talking to the juiceboy about God knows what and that I took as a good chance to finish my answer.
Me (addressing Woman specifically): I won't mind that I won't be using my engineering knowledge much. Whatever I learn at mba would be an addition benefitting me, and not a detriment in any way. So why should I regret ?
Woman: Did you have any subjects in engineering which can come to use in mba ??
Me (the good student): Yes Mam, Operations Research and Industrial Engineering.
By this time Man had finished his discussion with the juiceboy and repeated his question to me. I looked at Woman with a "abhi to bola tha" look and she obligingly repeated my answer to him.
Man (shifting gears): Ok Ritvik, so tell me, have you heard of any Indian major acquiring a foreign major very recently ??
Me (the knowledgeable): Yes Sir, I have indeed, Bharti Airtel.
Man: Is it the biggest acquisition of a foreign major by an Indian firm ??
Me (the confused) (SILENLTY): Ye tha ya Tata Corus ??? Ye tha ya Tata Corus ??? Ye tha ya Tata Corus ???
Me (the smartass): Yes Sir, it indeed is one of the biggest ever acquisitions.
Man (the smarter-ass): No no no... tell me if it is the biggest ever or not ??
Me (the not-so-confident and the not-so-knowledgeable): Yes sir, it is the biggest ever. (galat jawab)
Man (with a "huh...how ignorant" look): Okay... do you read the newspaper ??
Me: Yes Sir, The Times of India.
Man and Woman: Oho... full gossip wala paper... no use...why do you read it ??
Me (truthfully): I am quite fond of a few columnists they have.
Man & Woman: Ok.. name a few.
Me: MJ Akbar, MS Swaminathan.
Man: Okay tell us what article did MJ Akbar write y'day ??
Me (SILENTLY): fuck fuck fuck... kal ka paper hi nahi padha tha.
Me (ALOUD & SHEEPISH):I dint read the paper y'day.
Man: Okay tell us what he wrote the day before y'day ??
Me (SILENTLY): wtf...MJ writes only on sundays..acha beta... to inhe kuch nahi pata MJ ke baare mein....unless ye mujhe test kar rahe hai...
Me (ALOUD): Sir, he writes only on sundays.
Man: to last jo padha tha wo bata do.
Me(SILENTLY): 2 mahine se nahi padha...fir bhi kuch phekna padega.
Me (the Great Gambler): He wrote an article on the latest Maoist upsurge.
As I checked later, the article written the other day by MJ indeed turned out to be on Maoism...HEHEHEHEHE !!!!
Man: So what is your take on Maoism, do you think it is an intelligence failure.
Me (aah now the ball is landing the way I like it to): It definitely is an intelligence failure, or else our jawans wouldn't have been caught off guard so badly.
Man: Imagine you have to set up a committee looking into these attacks,what would your 3 main points of action be ??
Me (juicy fulltoss pe six): First, I would look at the reasons for the intelligence failure. Is it because of the fact that the commoners are aiding the Maos ?? If it surely is so, then what can be done to win back the masses ??
Second, is there a need for the army to intervene ?? Fine, we have the CRPF for controlling our internal matters, but if the matters get too big for the CRPF, I think the army should definitely be drafted in.
Third, I shall like to have a look at all the 'talks' taken place so far between the Maos and the government. Is there any scope for further 'talks' or the time has come for an out and out assault ??
Man and Woman appeared well satisfied. Man was then about to say something when Woman said that she was done. Man just as man has been doing since eternity followed Woman and said the same.
Now, this was when the funny(hopefully) part took place. Just when I thought I would be asked to leave, the following happened:
Woman: Do you know anyone in MDI ??
Me (the hesitant): Yes mam, I do have a friend in MDI.
Woman (the interested): Acha acha, batao kaun hai.
Me (the even more hesitant): Ah... there is this friend of mine in first year HR.
Woman and Man (the highly interested): Naam to batao.....
Me (the more than 'even more hesitant'): Debarati Marik, you might be knowing her....
Woman: Ahaaa.... Debarati... I know her very well.. You both collegemates ??
Me: No mam, schoolmates from Ranchi.
Woman: Achaaa... to aap Ranchi se hai...Theek hai.. We are done. Thank you.
Me (the God Knows What): May I know your names please ?? (hoping to check later with Debarati what the panelists were like...)
Woman and Man (flabbergasted): Arre... why do you want to know our names ?
Me (the innocent): It's just that I would like to know the names of the people I had my first MBA interview with.
Woman: No need no need..Debarati bata degi. Go ask her. Thank You.
Me (the apparently disappointed): Thank you both.
Well, this is how my first GD PI took place. The panelists were pretty ok. The lady initially was trying to stress me out by staring at the walls and looking disintersted when I answered. But later, she became quite friendly. The gentleman was in pretty much the same mood throughout. Ain't too confident of a selection because of my score and I somehow felt that I could not convince them on the "why mba" question. Plus the last bit of scene which might just work against me. And to add to it, despite me describing the interviewers as well I could, Debarati has still not been able to figure out their identities, dumping my heroics to the waste completely.
The interviewers were the same two who sat through our GD. One, a 30-something man (hereby referred to as Man) and the other a 30-something lady (any guesses what she would be referred to as...??? yes...WOMAN !!!) looking highly irritated and bored.
Here's how the whole thing went:
Man: Please have a seat... you are...Ritvik Shekhar..right ??
Me: Yes sir, Ritvik Shekhar (silently- with a V)
Man: So you have been (reading from my profile sheet) working in Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd.
Me: Yes Sir, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India.
Woman: So Ritvik where is your company located ??
Me: Manesar Mam, it's located in Manesar.
Man: So you have worked in 2 companies, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd.
Me (the bewildered) : No Sir, only one company, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Ltd... HMSI.
Man (the even more bewildered): Doesn't this mean two companies: Honda Motorcycle being one, and Scooter India Ltd being the other.
Me: Bhak sala (silently), No sir, this is only one company, HMSI.
Man and Woman (simultaneously): Ohhh.. Ok Ok.. This is only one Honda ???
Me (the gyaani): Yes, we are the only 100 % owned subsidiary of Honda Motors Japan in India.
Man: Isn't there a company called Scooters India Ltd. as well ?
Me (on guard) (SILENTLY): hai to...lekin kaha suna hai ??????????
Me (the quizzer) (ALOUD): Yes sir, the one which used to make Lambrettas.
Man (happily): Yes yes the same one.
Man (starting his run up): Ok tell me Ritvik.... You are working in a top core company making good use of your engineering degree and earning good money, why is it that you want to do an MBA ??
Me (SILENTLY): mere liye to short ball hi problem hai.. isne to opening over mein hi bouncer daal diya !!!
Me (ALOUD): Sir, right from the beginning I have had an interest in organizing events and.....
Woman (bearing a highly dirty expression on otherwise a nice face): Even I like organizing parties at home, does it mean that I should go for an MBA.
Me (SILENTLY): You must be an MBA. why the hell would MDI make you a prof otherwise ??
Me (ALOUD): No no Mam, not just that... I have actively organized fests and events at college level and have really enjoyed doing the same....
Man (interrupting): But don't you think your Mechanical Enginnering degree would be getting wasted if you go for an MBA. Just imagine that you would be selling waterbottles after becoming an mba, what use would our engineering degree come to then ??
Me (the fool): I agree sir that maybe I would not be using my engineering knowledge the way I am using it now, but then there is a lot more to engineering than just the technical knowledge.
(aaaaah... the mistake had been made)
Man and Woman (simultaneously and wickedly): Ok Ritvik, tell us what "more" is there to engineering than just the tehnical knowledge ??
Me (the bigger fool): Well you get to live with different people in a hostel.......
Woman: Come on, family ke saath bhi to live hi kar rahe the na itne saal se.
Me (gulping): Yes but here I got to live with people from different backgrounds.
Man: That can happen in a BA college as well.
Me: Yes sir, definitely, rightly said, it can happen in a BA college as well !!!
Woman (giving an even dirtier look): TIME se coaching li hai kya ??
Me (SILENTLY): gaya beta, boriya bistar baandh lo.
Me (LOUDLY & CONFIDENTLY): No Mam, I did not go for a coaching. My work hours did not permit me.
(I seriously sound more confident when I lie.)
Woman (sounding convinced): Oh ok ok... normally saare log TIME se coaching le ke aate hai aur aise hi answers dete hai.
Me: (formal) hahahaha.
Man: Ok Ritvik but I still have not understood why you want to do an mba ??
Me (SILENTLY): teri samajh mein nahi aaya to kya meri galti hai ???
Me (ALOUD): Sir of late I have felt that my learning curve has slightly tapered. The work I do is highly constrained and this way I would be limiting my career options completely. By doing an mba I hope to expand my horizons further, I have seen engineers do an mba and jump into completely different fields...... (was about to mention Menongitis)
Man: But won't the engineering knowledge be going down the drain completely ??
That was when an angel in the form of an officeboy entered the room carrying a tray having 3 glasses of juice.
Man: Ritvik, please have some juice.
Me: No Sir, I have a cold (jhooth).
Man further started talking to the juiceboy about God knows what and that I took as a good chance to finish my answer.
Me (addressing Woman specifically): I won't mind that I won't be using my engineering knowledge much. Whatever I learn at mba would be an addition benefitting me, and not a detriment in any way. So why should I regret ?
Woman: Did you have any subjects in engineering which can come to use in mba ??
Me (the good student): Yes Mam, Operations Research and Industrial Engineering.
By this time Man had finished his discussion with the juiceboy and repeated his question to me. I looked at Woman with a "abhi to bola tha" look and she obligingly repeated my answer to him.
Man (shifting gears): Ok Ritvik, so tell me, have you heard of any Indian major acquiring a foreign major very recently ??
Me (the knowledgeable): Yes Sir, I have indeed, Bharti Airtel.
Man: Is it the biggest acquisition of a foreign major by an Indian firm ??
Me (the confused) (SILENLTY): Ye tha ya Tata Corus ??? Ye tha ya Tata Corus ??? Ye tha ya Tata Corus ???
Me (the smartass): Yes Sir, it indeed is one of the biggest ever acquisitions.
Man (the smarter-ass): No no no... tell me if it is the biggest ever or not ??
Me (the not-so-confident and the not-so-knowledgeable): Yes sir, it is the biggest ever. (galat jawab)
Man (with a "huh...how ignorant" look): Okay... do you read the newspaper ??
Me: Yes Sir, The Times of India.
Man and Woman: Oho... full gossip wala paper... no use...why do you read it ??
Me (truthfully): I am quite fond of a few columnists they have.
Man & Woman: Ok.. name a few.
Me: MJ Akbar, MS Swaminathan.
Man: Okay tell us what article did MJ Akbar write y'day ??
Me (SILENTLY): fuck fuck fuck... kal ka paper hi nahi padha tha.
Me (ALOUD & SHEEPISH):I dint read the paper y'day.
Man: Okay tell us what he wrote the day before y'day ??
Me (SILENTLY): wtf...MJ writes only on sundays..acha beta... to inhe kuch nahi pata MJ ke baare mein....unless ye mujhe test kar rahe hai...
Me (ALOUD): Sir, he writes only on sundays.
Man: to last jo padha tha wo bata do.
Me(SILENTLY): 2 mahine se nahi padha...fir bhi kuch phekna padega.
Me (the Great Gambler): He wrote an article on the latest Maoist upsurge.
As I checked later, the article written the other day by MJ indeed turned out to be on Maoism...HEHEHEHEHE !!!!
Man: So what is your take on Maoism, do you think it is an intelligence failure.
Me (aah now the ball is landing the way I like it to): It definitely is an intelligence failure, or else our jawans wouldn't have been caught off guard so badly.
Man: Imagine you have to set up a committee looking into these attacks,what would your 3 main points of action be ??
Me (juicy fulltoss pe six): First, I would look at the reasons for the intelligence failure. Is it because of the fact that the commoners are aiding the Maos ?? If it surely is so, then what can be done to win back the masses ??
Second, is there a need for the army to intervene ?? Fine, we have the CRPF for controlling our internal matters, but if the matters get too big for the CRPF, I think the army should definitely be drafted in.
Third, I shall like to have a look at all the 'talks' taken place so far between the Maos and the government. Is there any scope for further 'talks' or the time has come for an out and out assault ??
Man and Woman appeared well satisfied. Man was then about to say something when Woman said that she was done. Man just as man has been doing since eternity followed Woman and said the same.
Now, this was when the funny(hopefully) part took place. Just when I thought I would be asked to leave, the following happened:
Woman: Do you know anyone in MDI ??
Me (the hesitant): Yes mam, I do have a friend in MDI.
Woman (the interested): Acha acha, batao kaun hai.
Me (the even more hesitant): Ah... there is this friend of mine in first year HR.
Woman and Man (the highly interested): Naam to batao.....
Me (the more than 'even more hesitant'): Debarati Marik, you might be knowing her....
Woman: Ahaaa.... Debarati... I know her very well.. You both collegemates ??
Me: No mam, schoolmates from Ranchi.
Woman: Achaaa... to aap Ranchi se hai...Theek hai.. We are done. Thank you.
Me (the God Knows What): May I know your names please ?? (hoping to check later with Debarati what the panelists were like...)
Woman and Man (flabbergasted): Arre... why do you want to know our names ?
Me (the innocent): It's just that I would like to know the names of the people I had my first MBA interview with.
Woman: No need no need..Debarati bata degi. Go ask her. Thank You.
Me (the apparently disappointed): Thank you both.
Well, this is how my first GD PI took place. The panelists were pretty ok. The lady initially was trying to stress me out by staring at the walls and looking disintersted when I answered. But later, she became quite friendly. The gentleman was in pretty much the same mood throughout. Ain't too confident of a selection because of my score and I somehow felt that I could not convince them on the "why mba" question. Plus the last bit of scene which might just work against me. And to add to it, despite me describing the interviewers as well I could, Debarati has still not been able to figure out their identities, dumping my heroics to the waste completely.
Monday, April 12, 2010
GDPI at MDI (Part 1)
Okay... So here's how my first GDPI attempt at an MBA college went, the lucky institute being MDI, Gurgaon. (Date: Apr 12, 2010; Venue: MDI)
The topic for the Group Discussion was highly abstract and wierd: "YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL TO BE SATISFIED."
While I am pretty fond of abstract topics, since they allow me to get whacky and all, this was one topic which I did not like much. Adding to it, the way the prof from the panel pointed out the topic scribbled on the board behind him, one could figure out the amount of interest taken in framing this topic. Can't actually blame those folks, since MDI has been having its interviews for more than 20+ days now.
As always, once the GD started, I had to frequently control an urge to bash the guy sitting next to me. What points the guy came up with... "A man should never be satisfied and a satisfied man is no lesser than DEAD." I just wish I could interview this guy once.
The GD was highly clamorous, and did not go as well as I would have liked it to. I did speak at times but never managed to steer the discussion as I like to. That's what actually happens when 9 good (read vociferous) speakers meet in a GD.
There was this small incident during the GD which I would like to mention:
This dude with a frenchie (beard) invited the group to go for a poll, so as to decide the outcome of the discussion. My first reaction was, "come on dude this isn't a debate, we don't need a poll." I wanted to ensure that the poll doesn't happen, but for this I would have had to put my head into the fish market as well, something which would have left me looking like a stinking fish myself.
As a countermeasure (Honda lingo), very quietly, I leaned close to the Violent Ass next to me and whispered... " Hey, what the hell is he talking ?? This isn't a 'yes' or 'no' discussion. "
Very quickly, the dude catching onto my words yelled, " No no no, you are mistaken, this isn't a yes or no discussion, we just cannot have a poll !!!"
Now I don't know if it was the right move or not, but Dude No. 1 definitely shut up after this without me needing to get into the business, and Violent Ass did get a "WTF" look from the prof.
The GD was followed up by a 90 minute waiting period during which I realized that the guys around me weren't much hopeful of a selection, we being the low percentile scorers. (yes 96.91 is indeed low by MDI standards).
The Interview shall be described in the post to follow.
The topic for the Group Discussion was highly abstract and wierd: "YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL TO BE SATISFIED."
While I am pretty fond of abstract topics, since they allow me to get whacky and all, this was one topic which I did not like much. Adding to it, the way the prof from the panel pointed out the topic scribbled on the board behind him, one could figure out the amount of interest taken in framing this topic. Can't actually blame those folks, since MDI has been having its interviews for more than 20+ days now.
As always, once the GD started, I had to frequently control an urge to bash the guy sitting next to me. What points the guy came up with... "A man should never be satisfied and a satisfied man is no lesser than DEAD." I just wish I could interview this guy once.
The GD was highly clamorous, and did not go as well as I would have liked it to. I did speak at times but never managed to steer the discussion as I like to. That's what actually happens when 9 good (read vociferous) speakers meet in a GD.
There was this small incident during the GD which I would like to mention:
This dude with a frenchie (beard) invited the group to go for a poll, so as to decide the outcome of the discussion. My first reaction was, "come on dude this isn't a debate, we don't need a poll." I wanted to ensure that the poll doesn't happen, but for this I would have had to put my head into the fish market as well, something which would have left me looking like a stinking fish myself.
As a countermeasure (Honda lingo), very quietly, I leaned close to the Violent Ass next to me and whispered... " Hey, what the hell is he talking ?? This isn't a 'yes' or 'no' discussion. "
Very quickly, the dude catching onto my words yelled, " No no no, you are mistaken, this isn't a yes or no discussion, we just cannot have a poll !!!"
Now I don't know if it was the right move or not, but Dude No. 1 definitely shut up after this without me needing to get into the business, and Violent Ass did get a "WTF" look from the prof.
The GD was followed up by a 90 minute waiting period during which I realized that the guys around me weren't much hopeful of a selection, we being the low percentile scorers. (yes 96.91 is indeed low by MDI standards).
The Interview shall be described in the post to follow.
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